VI. Anguish

Story so far:
All of the members of the group were now in different cities and countries, but they were always connected with each other and always there if they needed each other. As time passed, Suhas was feeling the effects of the long distance relationship, but he was confident in fulfilling his dream, both his job and her. He was just sure of it. Meanwhile, in another city Siri got a two-wheeler and was making the most of the new city, exploring every nook and corner of the city without leaving any stone unturned. If the city wasn’t enough, she shifted to the surrounding cities, hills, valleys. Nothing was spared. No one knew how she managed the academics and traveling so much. Deeksha and Ashish were slowly settling in their new jobs in their own city. She seemed to have settled well in her job while Ashish was getting the corporate run down a couple months after he had joined the organization. While, on the other side of the world, Varun had settled in the friendliest country and was exploring the city and getting adjusted. What will happen to their story?Read on…

. . .

Varun was adjusting to the new climate and people. It was a little new to him on many counts. It was a new country, a new place, new people all around and new college and different curriculum. It was a lot of adjustment for him to do, but nothing that he couldn’t handle. His friends were always a skype call away. WhatsApp hadn’t yet introduced the video call at that time and the internet packs were a huge burden to bear. It wasn’t just new for him, the others were experiencing something new with them as well. The job was exciting sure, but the daily routine was something to deal with. While Deeksha and Ashish were managing the traffic and reaching the deadlines, Siri and Suhas were back to college, however in different places, but it was something that was sort of easy to deal with since they had had the similar experience for the past 4 years. It was a difficult farewell, but it was inevitable. He was in a distinguished college and with a promise of always being in touch they went to different places. Little did Suhas know what was in store of him. He had never even dreamt of something like that would happen and that was a setback for him, in a matter of speaking, but he is not one of those who backs away when faced with a setback. While Siri was adjusting to the humidity of the new place and on top of it the college being just beside the sea was however cool and all but it did add a little to the humid factor. And she did face a few hurdles in the first few months she moved to a new city. But just a few months into the 1st year of college, she got a shock of her life and she wasn’t exactly sure how to react to it or even how to take the news.

It was an evening when Siri had got a call from her brother. Her dad had asked her brother to give her a call and explain what he had told him. He had somehow made aware of the two of them, Siri and Suhas, and he clearly wasn’t very pleased with that. He had told her brother to convey the message to her that they shouldn’t see each other and pursue this thing called ‘love’. Their primary focus should be studying and not to get distracted by this idea. Siri felt a lump in her throat when she heard her brother narrate the whole story to her. She was left speechless of course, and she didn’t actually know how to respond to that big of a news. She neither had the courage to defend back nor she had an explanation for the same. She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. With a heavy heart, she put the phone down and wondered how to convey that to Suhas and what her decision to that would be. She knew that he would be heartbroken to hear this and she didn’t have to heart to tell him nor break his heart. She knew she loved him so much to break his heart. While Siri was getting crushed by the latest phone call, Suhas had also received a call from her brother, who was also a distant relative to Suhas, had conveyed what her dad had told him to convey. Suhas just couldn’t believe his ears and he was hoping that it was all a dream and hoped that he woke up as soon as possible because it was too much for him to bear. He wasn’t at all ready for this kind of news and that too when they were totally and completely in love, however, the distance. Suhas just sunk into his chair trying to wake himself from a nightmare, while Siri in another city stuffed her head in the pillow trying to contain the tears. Everything was a blur for both of them and they could see the whole world, their dreams crashing down in front of their eyes. And then the phone rang. Siri jumped from her pillow. She was now scared of the phone calls.

There was just silence, the air was tense and the distance was heart-wrenching and it might have been the hardest conversation Siri and Suhas had ever had. They talked it out and Siri had told Suhas that they had to stop all that they were doing and focus on studies for the time being. She could never go against her father and if he didn’t like it now there is no hope at all in seeing each. But, if at all if the topic of marriage comes up, they shall revisit the situation once the college is over. Suhas wasn’t happy with all that was happening and neither was Siri. But there was so little that she could do and that was frustrating to her because she couldn’t do anything to make this go away, but wait. Suhas was understanding and he made out that she was breaking apart on the inside to even say this, but he did respect her thoughts, so he decided to revisit the whole scenario the next time they met. The conversation went on for a little while trying to access what the best course of action was and how to bring this topic back when the college gets over. Siri was already feeling guilty for having kept this from their parents and might not have the heart to persuade her parents on her own. The only thing that she could do was she would tell whim she liked if the topic of marriage was ever brought up and Suhas had already promised to speak to her parent’s eons ago when they started dating. So, he had a part responsibility in convincing her parents for their union. She knew one thing for certain that Suhas was the only guy for her and marriage with anyone else would be a disaster of multitude proportions. For the time being, they decided not to talk to each other until college or perhaps maybe the next time they met. Siri was quite serious about not talking to each other and however it was very difficult for Suhas to bear the thought of not talking to her, he did want to make an effort to respect her wishes.

He melted me with his words.
– Siri

A month passed by and Suhas was still devasted with everything that had happened and he couldn’t believe that it was just a month since they stopped talking. He just couldn’t bear the thought of not able to listen to her voice. But he was trying to respect what she wanted. But that heavy of a burden was getting difficult for him to carry and the distance wasn’t in his favor either. Many sleepless nights passed and one night he decided to give her a call and see if they could revisit their decision to not talk because it was crushing him on the inside. Siri wasn’t vocal about it, but she was feeling a hundred times what Suhas was going through because it was her decision. Siri picked the call without a second thought. She had missed him, missed talking to him and she knew it was hard for him as well. Suhas had asked Siri to talk at least once a month. It had been over 3 months they hadn’t talked and Suhas never gets emotional. But this was one of those rare moments when he did get. Love does bring a different side of people. “I haven’t spent a single moment not thinking about you. Sometimes, tears just flow without me knowing., so much that am not even able to eat the food because there are always tears in my plate and your reflection in it”. He didn’t even had to say anything, but this just made her melt into a puddle.

. . .

What did Siri say to Suhas? What does the future hold for them? Will they get back together? Or does fate have a different story for them?(To be continued …)